Percy Jackson, The Missing Hero.

18. Nico has a Strange Definition of 'Party'.

"Sure," Luke answered. His tone was a little shaky. "It'll just be like going to the gym before breakfast. A nice morning warm-up. Right?"

"Men." Zoë strode forward, arrow nocked.

"Solani!" Percy protested, words not leaving his lips in time to prevent her arrow flying.

They watched as the arrow hit home, turning the dracanae at Kronos' right hand into dust. First blood had officially been spilt and Kronos' army was no longer waiting idle.

"Only eight of us were ready for battle!" Percy yelled to Zoë before the six of them that didn't use a bow and arrow as their primary weapon crossed the border, running to meet the crowd of monsters that were running towards them. Percy didn't fancy testing the strength of the borders against this many monsters and he knew Peleus would only be able to eat so many of them at a time, restricted to how far he could stretch away from the tree.

"I was bored of waiting!" Zoë's protest echoed after them. "You were talking too much."

"Nine!" Apollo's shout also followed, accompanied by a golden arrow flying over their heads and embedding itself in an Empousa who promptly burst into a shower of dust.

"Ten." Nico corrected from Percy's side, voice filled with determination.

"Now you're the one in a t-shirt and jeans!" Percy protested before doing a double-take. Nico was somehow now in armour.

"Shadowtravel. Has its perks!" Nico grinned before they were separated by a wall of monsters.

Percy lost himself in the battle, fighting with moves that were just second nature by now. He'd had years of practice by now, and it was easy to incorporate his powers into battle. It was also handy that the only person he had to worry about was himself, knowing full well that each person on the field was perfectly capable of handling themselves. And Nico would kick his ass if he dared to worry about him, even if he said it was brotherly worry and not undermining Nico's ability to look after himself - he knew for certain that he could.

"I was right!" Luke shouted to him as he took off the head of a telekhine, grimacing as he was splattered with a shower of blood before the body transformed to dust. "This is just like going to the gym before breakfast."

"Enjoying the party?" Nico swept past them, a line of skeleton warriors behind him.

"I don't see how this is a party!" Percy yelled at the pair of them as he had to duck beneath the stray head of a Hydra, knowing he couldn't just cut the damn thing off. He didn't have anything he could use to create fire to hand, cursing not having Leo nearby.

"Seashell!" Apollo shouted, followed by a swift whistle that had all of the monsters surrounding him clutching their ears and stumbling. "Slice the heads off!"

Percy did as the god asked, praying that Apollo knew what he was doing and they wouldn't end up with a Hydra with double the amount of heads. The volley of blazing arrows that found their home in the middle of each stump answered said prayer, engulfing each one in flames. Apollo winked at him before swapping bow for sword again so he could deal with the surrounding monsters that weren't exactly dazed anymore.

Percy continued, knowing he couldn't allow himself to get distracted. He spiralled and swirled through the sea of monsters, slashing, stabbing and slicing as he went. He used his powers to his advantage, a hurricane beginning to whip around him as he spun. It collected monster dust and monsters alike, hurtling the latter far afield where they would land before his compatriots, dazed and easy to dispatch.